In the Baptistry of St. Mark's, Venice

Artist William Merritt Chase American, 1849–1916

Date1878

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions33 1/2 x 43 1/2 in. (85.1 x 110.5 cm)
Frame: 43 x 53 x 2 1/2 in. (109.2 x 134.6 x 6.4 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineGift of Marcia Bishopric Gest in memory of Joseph Henry Gest and Henry Gest Jr.

Object number2016.13

On View

Not on view

Provenance**Created Venice (or New York?), 1878; collection of the artist, New York; private collection; [Ainslie Galleries, New York, 1923]; Joseph Henry Gest (1859–1935) [1], Cincinnati, OH, 1923; by descent to son, Henry Gest Sr. (1899–1974), Cincinnati, 1935; bequeathed to wife, Emily Este Lea Gest (1907–1983), 1974; by descent to son, Henry Gest Jr. (1932–2011), Fearrington, NC, 1983; bequeathed to wife, Marcia Gest, Fearrington, NC, 2011; given to NCMA, 2016.
Published ReferencesJ.B.F.W., “Society of American Artists,” Aldine 9 (1879), 281.

“American Artists: Varnishing Day of the Second Exhibition,” New York Times (March 8, 1879), 5.

“The Society of American Artists,” New-York Tribune (March 8, 1879), 5.

“The Fine Arts: The Spring Exhibition at the Academy–Third Notice,” Evening Telegram (Philadelphia, PA) (May 6, 1879), 8.

“Fine Arts,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle (June 26, 1879), 1.

S[usan] N. Carter, “Exhibition of the Society of American Artists,” Art Journal 5 (May 1879), 157.

M. G. [Mariana Griswold] van Rensselaer, “William Merritt Chase: Second and Concluding Article,” American Art Review 2 (February 1881), 136.

Spencer H. Coon, “The Work of William Merritt Chase as Artist and Teacher,” Metropolitan Magazine 5 (May 1897), 307.

Ronald G. Pisano, D. Frederick Baker, and Carolyn K. Lane, The Complete Catalogue of Known and Documented Work by William Merritt Chase (1849–1916), vol. 4: Still Lifes, Interiors, Figures, Copies of Old Masters, and Drawings (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010), no. I.7, illus. (color) 81.

Elsa Smithgall, et al, William Merritt Chase: A Modern Master (Washington, DC: The Phillips Collection, 2016), illus. (color) pl. 10.
Exhibition HistoryNew York, NY, Society of American Artists, “Second Exhibition,” March 10–29, 1879, no. 81 (lent by the artist, for sale).

Philadelphia, PA, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, “50th Annual Exhibition,” April 28–June 2, 1879, no. 244 (as Interior of the Baptistry of St. Mark’s, lent by the artist.

Brooklyn, NY, Schenck Art Gallery, June 1879.

Cincinnati, OH, Cincinnati Art Museum, “31st Annual Exhibition of American Art,” May 24–July 31, 1924, no. 22 (as In St. Mark’s, Venice).

New York, NY, Berry-Hill Galleries, “Chase Inside and Out: The Aesthetic Interiors of William Merritt Chase,” November 16, 2004–January 29, 2005 discussed 19, illus. (color) pl. 2.

Washington, DC, Smithsonian American Art Museum, "Sargent, Whistler and Venetian Glass: American Artists and the Magic of Murano," October 8, 2021–May 8, 2022. Fort Worth, TX, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, June 25–September 2022. Mystic, CT, Mystic Seaport Museum, October 15, 2022–February 27, 2023. Object Rights Statement

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